How Obama can inspire a nation

Commentary: Lift a page from past, move nation forward, in inaugural

By

MarshallLoeb

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- An inaugural speech gives an incoming president a rare opportunity to reach out to all the people, to cite our common problems and suggest how he will lead us to conquering them. Often the rhetoric of the address is so dramatic that it produces words that become part of the American language.

So it was that Franklin Roosevelt in March 1933, in the midst of the Depression, declared that, "The only thing we have to fear, is fear itself."

Then the new president listed some of the nation's common difficulties, which somehow became less fearsome to the American public, because he brought them out into the bright light of day.

"Values," declared FDR, "have shrunk to fantastic levels, taxes have risen, our ability to pay has fallen, government of all kinds is faced with a serious curtailment of income, the withered leaves of industrial enterprise lie on every side, farmers find no market for their produce, and the savings of many years in thousands of families are gone. Only a foolish optimist can deny the grim realities of the moment."

Then FDR proclaimed one major way that the nation would create new jobs -- by accomplishing greatly needed public works projects to stimulate and reorganize the use of our great natural resources.

Though it took eight more years and the start of World War II for the U.S. to climb out of the Depression, Roosevelt's remarks, followed by his periodic "Fireside Chats" to the country, did much to revitalize the nation.

By far, however, the most successful inaugural speech of my lifetime was John F. Kennedy's historic remarks on Jan. 20, 1961.

The young president unfurled at least four crisp passages that became part of history:

--"Let the word go forth, from this time and place, to friend and foe alike, that the torch has been passed to a new generation of Americans."

-- "Let every nation know, whether it wishes us good or ill, that we will pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, to assure the survival and success of liberty.

-- "Let us never negotiate out of fear, but let us never fear to negotiate."

-- "And so, my fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country."

What Obama should tell America

Barack Obama is an excellent speechmaker, and in his most important pronouncement so far, he has a rare opportunity. By borrowing many inspirational themes from inaugural speeches of times past, not to mention some of their King James and Shakespearian language, he can do much to draw a tired and worried nation behind him.

The new president may seek to bind up the nation's wounds after a divisive election campaign. Thomas Jefferson, in his first inaugural in 1801, declared of the two major political parties of the time: "Every difference of opinion is not a difference of principle. We are all Republicans. We are all Federalists."

Or he may seek to echo the theme of bringing us together, as did President James K. Polk, who in 1845 spoke in his inaugural of being "President of all the people."

Abraham Lincoln was the greatest wordsmith of all the presidents thus far, and he was no less politically astute. In 1860, on the eve of the Civil War, he wrote the initial draft of his first inaugural address. But Secretary of State William Seward warned Lincoln he was being too tough on Southern states.

So in his second draft, Lincoln delivered a much more conciliatory speech. And at his second inaugural in 1865, just before he was assassinated, Lincoln declared, memorably, "With malice toward none, with charity for all, we shall bind up the nation's wounds."

Obama could do well to borrow a page from Kennedy. To come up with the lines for his speech for the ages, Kennedy instructed speechwriter Ted Sorensen to "add style and eloquence," "shorten sentences and words," "eliminate 'I'" and, most important, "keep it short."

How much attention should Obama pay to his own historic ascendance to the presidency? William Safire, a speechwriter for Richard Nixon and a longtime columnist for the New York Times, says, "I think Obama will not be so unsubtle to point to the fact he is the first African-American president. JFK did not say he was the first Catholic president. Nor did FDR say he was the first disabled president. But the quotations from Lincoln, the great emancipator, and Dr. Martin Luther King, will make the point."

Most important, though, Obama at once must warn and prepare the nation for the many grave crises it faces -- the economy, security, wars, energy, health care and much more -- and come up with lines that resonate through the land and carry the message of hope and change.

Just as FDR declared in 1933, Obama must tell us we can do it, we can prevail and we shall overcome.

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